Until We Meet Again
by kuja-ichi
Summary: The Kenshingumi is reborn in modern day Tokyo. As Kaoru and Misao try to struggle with the new found knowledge of their past lives, old enemies awaken and it seems necessary that history repeats itself... Present-day AU
1. Kaoru's Feelings

**Author's Note: **Welcome welcome to my second fanfic! This is going to be a quite long and, hopefully, quite epic story, haha!

I must confess, I'm not entirely sure about the second genre (Drama right now) yet, and I might change it later if I should see something else more fitting... Suggestions are always very welcome! Although it probably might take one or two more chapters until it will be exactly clear where this is headed.

Well, I hope you stay with me until then!

**Special Thanks:** First, I have to thank Lapiz Lazuli Luna a LOT! She helped me so much with the story and characters in the very early stages... Thanks, thanks, thanks!  
(Go read her story "Those Who Go Overseas", it's awesome beyond words!)

Second, a TON of thanks to Bonnia, who not only prevented me from making a huge, embarassing factual mistake, and helped me further on some details, but also beta read the heck out of this chapter.

Thank you guys SO MUCH!

**Warning:** This story does not start with all the canon pairings. I hope I don't reveal too much, when I say it won't stay that way, though.

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately, I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the characters.

The inspiration for writing a reincarnation story came from "Forever Mine" by Angie-san.

A certain cat was brazenly sto- borrowed from the wonderful "Hajime and Tokio" by Angrybee.

* * *

**Chapter One**

**Kaoru's Feelings**

_Kaoru knelt on the street in front of the dojo, leaves swirling around her in the air. She stared into the darkness, her eyes searching for someone. She knew someone had just left her. She could feel the despair over her loss in her entire body._

_But who was it? Whom did she miss so much her heart felt as if it was broken into a thousand pieces?_

* * *

"Kaoru-chan? Kaoru-chan! … Nee, Kaoru!" Kaoru's eyes snapped open as something suddenly hit her shoulder. Hard.

"Ow, Misao! What are you doing?" Kaoru asked her best friend with a frown on her face. Misao stood beside her, her petite body clad in a cute little summer dress, and an unusual expression of exasperation obvious on her face.

"You ask me what I am doing? _You_ are the one who just fell asleep in the middle of our shopping trip! I can't believe it! Who do you think we're doing this for?"

Kaoru examined her surroundings closer. Misao was right, they were in the middle of a shopping trip. Kaoru remembered, she had only wanted to sit down for a minute, tired of hours of going from shop to shop and trying on dress after dress. She could hardly believe she really had fallen asleep, though. So sound asleep, she had even dreamt. She still felt the last hints of her dream linger in her mind, the faintest feeling of loss.

Kaoru sighed deeply and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Misao-chan, honestly. However, to answer your question, actually we are doing this for you, since you are the one who wanted to go shopping for her birthday party!"

Misao didn't seem to be fazed by her words and waved them away without showing any sign of embarrassment. "Oh, whatever! Are you ready to go on? You too, Kamatari?"

Her second best friend chuckled lightly at the dialogue of the two girls. "Has there ever been a time when I was not ready to go shopping?" he asked.

"Ha, of course not!" Misao answered high-spiritedly and grabbed both Kamatari's and Kaoru's arms. "Let's go!"

Kaoru doubtfully regarded her two friends for a moment. Misao was full of energy as usual, her long black braid waving with every move she made and every word she said. Kamatari wore almost the same dress as Misao, but while hers was blue, the boy's was green. Kaoru still could remember her shock when she first found out Kamatari was indeed not a girl. That had been at an age where bust size had been of no concern yet, of course.

"Misao-chan, Kamatari-chan... aren't we finished already? I got a dress, you two got even two outfits each. I highly doubt anyone of us will have to change twelve times at your party," Kaoru told them while she was being dragged out of the shop and on to the next one.

"Kaoru, wasn't it you who asked us to help you pick a fancy dress for the wedding? You sure seem to be forgetful today," Kamatari scolded her lightly.

"Oh, right... Fancy dress for the wedding... How could I forget that...?" Kaoru muttered under her breath. The wedding. Kenshin's wedding. Oh, what would she give to forget about that.

"And could you please remind me why I ever agreed to go there as well?" she asked with despair in her voice, which wasn't half as much faked as she would have liked.

Kamatari nudged her. "Because you love that Kenshin guy and want him to be happy and you like his future wife as well and know she will make sure that he is," he told the miserable looking girl kindly.

"And because if you're not present at the church, you won't be able to jump up and say 'I do!', when the priest asks if someone has objections to the wedding!" Misao happily cried and grinned at them with mischief sparkling in her eyes.

Kaoru couldn't help but laugh at those words. "Yeah, right, as if I'd ever do that!" she chuckled.

During the next hour, Kaoru was reminded once again why she had decided to go shopping with her best friends, even though she didn't feel like it in the beginning. Being around Misao and Kamatari, no one could stay blue for too long. Unfortunately that didn't mean they had much success in finding that kind of fancy dress Kaoru had imagined in her mind.

"I still think that pink one would look wonderful on you," Kamatari mused as they sat down to drink some coffee.

"The pink one? You know, in contrast to you, I do not want to look like a drag queen!" Kaoru replied mockingly. The addressed boy just stuck his tongue out.

"Nah, Kaoru-chan's right, that pink dress made her look like a bubblegum. The black one is it, I say!" Misao offered her opinion.

Kaoru shook her head once again. "I'm still not sure whether one should wear that certain dress at a funeral or a night club when you're very lonely, but certainly not at a wedding." She sighed. "Mou, you know what? Screw it, I'll wear a kimono!"

The faces of her two friends lit up at that resolve. "Yes yes yes, a kimono will be wonderful!You look so cute wearing one, especially in that blue one, it highlights your eyes wonderfully!" Misao babbled.

While the girl was still chattering, Kamatari had stood up and started to flitter his hands around Kaoru's black hair. "I shall make you a wonderful hairdo. I have tons of the cutest hair clips at home I've itched to use for years."

Kaoru looked at him frowning. "What's wrong with my current hairdo?" she asked, ripping her usual ponytail out of the hands of her enthusiastic friend. "In fact, I got this wonderful indigo ribbon for my birthday last month and I've had no opportunity to wear it yet. It will look great with the light blue of the kimono!" She stood up and glanced at her watch. "I'm afraid I have to go. Yahiko comes back from his school trip today, and I promised Mom to be home when he arrives. By the way, Misao-chan, don't you have to work today?"

The small girl pulled a face at those words and played with the end of her braid. "Ahh, I don't want to go. Aoshi-san doesn't let me do anything fun, all I have to do is copy things and make coffee. Although it is me, Shinomori Misao, who will inherit the Oniwabanshu one day, and Aoshi-san knows damn well Jiya trained me for that as long as I can remember! Well," she added softly after a short break, "and then at the moment Megumi-san's hanging around all day as well, of course. So yeah, I really don't want to go."

Kaoru looked at her friend with sympathy. She knew exactly how Misao felt about seeing her beloved Aoshi with Megumi, and she was torn between wishing for happiness for her best friend and her older sister.

"Now now, don't look like you're going to a funeral, ladies!" Kamatari clapped his hands resolutely. "At least the two of you have someone to get lovesick about. These beautiful eyes of mine on the other hand have still failed in laying sight on the charming prince that is worth to win over both my heart and body!" he exclaimed dramatically, his hands extended towards the sky to greet his imaginary prince on his white steed.

Kaoru and Misao both started to laugh at the sight.

After that, they all drank the rest of their coffees, gathered their bags and started towards the exit of the mall. Once there, Kaoru turned left, while the others went right.

"Well, see you tomorrow at the party then! And go to work Misao-chan, or you will be fired before you can inherit anything!" she scolded her friend one last time.

Misao only waved at her happily. "Yeah yeah, I'll go! And don't be late tomorrow! You'll love the surprise I got this year!" Waving frantically one last time, she linked arms with Kamatari and dragged him along the way.

* * *

Reaching her home, Kaoru unlocked the door, shook off her shoes and entered the dark hall. She shouted "Tadaima!" into the empty house, but the only answer she got was a "Meow" from their black cat Snowflake. Kaoru would have never said it out loud, but she was really looking forward to Yahiko coming back from his school trip. One week without her brother had been quite boring.

Especially now, that her mother worked again. She was used to her father not being at home most of the time due to his work with the police, but now that Megumi had moved out, Yahiko was away on his trip and both of her parents were working all day, Kaoru had avoided being at home as much as possible. She hated the house being this empty and quiet; it had never felt right to her.

She had just emptied one of her father's ashtrays, when her gaze fell on the clock. Noticing the time, she hurried into her room and grabbed her Kendo equipment. She couldn't believe she had almost forgot her Kendo training this afternoon. The shame if she arrived too late would be simply too much.

Kaoru briefly remembered that her mother had asked her to be at home when Yahiko returned, but she knew her father would understand that Kendo training was more important. As strict as he could be, he always supported her and Yahiko when it came to Kendo. Actually, as well as she knew her little brother, he probably had directly gone from the school to the dojo anyway.

* * *

She arrived at the dojo just in time. Entering through the gate, Kaoru saw her little brother grinning at her.

"Hey, ugly! You're late!" the small boy greeted her.

She smacked her bokken over his head. "And whose fault is that, moron? I waited for you at home!" Of course that wasn't exactly the entire truth, but no one had to know that. "And didn't your lesson just end anyway?" she asked as she noticed that he was still wearing his hakama.

Yahiko rubbed the lump on his head."I missed so much last week, Himura-sensei allowed me to participate in your advanced class today as well," he answered with a smug grin on his face.

"Oh great, like I don't see your face often enough as it is. On the other hand..." Now Kaoru began to grin herself. "I can't wait to wipe the floor with you."

Just as Yahiko started to retort, another voice interfered in their argument.

"Now, now, always arguing, the two of you, aren't you?"

Kaoru's heart stopped for a second as she heard that gentle voice. The voice of her dreams, belonging to the man of her dreams. She felt a deep blush creeping up her face. Her body had always reacted in some way or another to seeing or hearing Kenshin, but for some reason unknown to her, today was worse than usual. Even her hands trembled slightly, and she couldn't bring herself to turn around yet.

Luckily Yahiko was there as well. "Oi, Kenshin!" he greeted the man happily. "Guess what, Himura-sensei allowed me to participate in the advanced class today!"

"Really? I'm happy for you, I'm sure you will do just fine!" Kenshin answered with the usual smile on his face.

Kaoru finally turned around. She saw Yahiko wildly gesturing around and showing Kenshin some technique he had recently learned. Kenshin seemed genuinely interested as he watched Yahiko and asked him more about what the boy had learned. His short red hair sparkled in the sun and his dark blue eyes seemed to sparkle from within. Kaoru's eyes wandered over his smooth, handsome face until they stopped at the small mole under his right eye. Her hand almost reached out, so much did she long to touch it. Touch _him_.

She was only jerked back into reality when she suddenly noticed Kenshin's gaze meeting hers.

"Kaoru-san, are you alright?" he asked with worry obvious in his voice.

"Er... huh?" was all she could answer.

"Do you have a fever maybe? Your face seems a bit red." He started walking towards her.

Kaoru involuntarily took a step backwards and held her hands up in front of her. "I'm fine, I'm fine! I just... I was... a little late, yes, that's it, I was late, and therefore I had to run and therefore my face is red. See, nothing unusual at all!" she stammered, before she hastily started to walk towards the training hall.

Yahiko grinned knowingly at her, but didn't dare to say anything as he saw the glare she shot him.

* * *

As always, training calmed down Kaoru's mind. Yahiko did quite well, in fact, but she would guess that he had to return to his usual class later, if only because everyone here was too tall for him. She tried to ignore Kenshin as much as she could during the lesson and was a bit surprised herself how well that went.

After the training was over, Kaoru wanted to disappear as fast as possible, when she heard the voice of Himura-sensei, Kenshin's father, calling her name.

"Kaoru-san!" Himura-sensei held a great resemblance to his son, although his long, once red hair, was now almost completely white.

"Ah, yes? I'm sorry, I was so late today, I somehow forgot the time and-" she started, but was interrupted by Himura-sensei with a smile.

"No no, don't worry, you were perfectly on time. I'm afraid your record of punctuality is even cleaner than that of my own son." He let out a deep fake sigh and Kaoru couldn't help but smile.

"So, what is it you want to talk to me about?"

"Ah, right right, sorry. Your summer holidays start next week, don't they?"

Kaoru nodded with an inquiring look on her face.

"Well, I wanted to ask if you would like to teach the beginner's class during your holidays. Myojin-sensei broke his leg yesterday and he won't be able to teach for some weeks."

"Of course, I'd love to!" Kaoru nodded vigorously. But then she suddenly became nervous and added "But, um, shouldn't, um, you know..."

"If you try to say that my stupid son should do that, well yes, he should. But seeing that he only started learning the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu five years ago, while you have almost three times the experience and are also, despite of your age, one of our best students, I would say that you are a lot more qualified than he is. I am sure you will be a great teacher. And the young students already love you anyway" he added, winking at her.

The young girl beamed with pride. "Thank you so much, Himura-sensei! I won't disappoint you, I promise! When shall I start? Monday?"

"Yes, that would be great."

Grinning from ear to ear after this exchange, Kaoru walked to her bike, where Yahiko was already waiting for her. He shot her a skeptical glance. "Now what's wrong with you, ugly?"

Only grinning even wider, Kaoru pinched her little brother in the arm. "Guess who'll be your teacher for the next six weeks, moron?"

Shock flooded Yahiko's face. "What? Don't tell me...! Nooo! Oh you gods, what have I done to deserve such a punishment?" He whined for the rest of their way home, getting nothing else than a grin or a chuckle from his sister in response.

* * *

Kaoru woke up late the next day. She hadn't slept very well, because of something she had dreamt. She couldn't exactly remember what it was, but it had been a sad dream, as usual lately. When she was finally dressed and went downstairs, she could hear voices from the kitchen. For a second she hoped her parents were at home, but then she remembered that they were in Kyoto for a conference and would come home only that evening. She still grinned when she saw the inhabitants of the kitchen.

"Megumi! What are you doing here?" She ran to her older sister and glomped her, almost throwing both of them on the floor.

"God, Kaoru! Can't you be a bit more careful?" Megumi scolded her breathlessly, the smile on her face betraying her tone. The young woman pointed towards the tall, handsome man standing next to her.

"Aoshi couldn't abide Misao and her birthday party preparations any second longer, and so I thought we could welcome Yahiko back. And visit you, of course."

They smiled at each other, while Yahiko grumbled, "Geez, I've been gone only for a week. Women!"

Kaoru turned to Aoshi. "Nice to see you, Aoshi-san, it's been a while. I don't know about you all, but I didn't have breakfast yet, shall I make some?" The sudden alarmed look on everyone's face made Kaoru growl. "Mou, or Megumi could make some. Honestly, I don't cook that bad!"

A punch on his head was the only answer she gave to Yahiko's whispered "Yes, you do!"

* * *

Three hours later, after a lot of catching up, giggling, punching, and a delicious breakfast cooked by Megumi, it was time for Kaoru to change. Aoshi had offered her to take her with the car, so she wouldn't have to ride her bike at least. Kaoru quickly changed into her new, light pink summer dress and grabbed her present for Misao from the chest of drawers.

Downstairs, she hugged Megumi, who had to leave for her shift at the hospital, one last time, waved Yahiko goodbye and patted Snowflake on the head. Then she ran outside, where Aoshi was already waiting in his car.

She quickly entered the car and fastened her seatbelt. "Thanks again for giving me a lift, Aoshi-san," she said to the quiet man.

"Don't think about it," was the only answer she got.

Minutes passed, with the silence growing uncomfortable between the two, as far as Kaoru was concerned.

"So, um, I hope Misao-chan wasn't too bad today?"

"No."

"I guess she really likes her birthday, doesn't she?"

"Yes."

"Well, er, do you know what kind of surprise it is that she promised?"

"No."

"I guess you're not involved this year, then?"

Kaoru would have sworn she saw Aoshi's face twitch at that comment. She couldn't blame him.

Misao always had prepared some kind of surprise for her birthday parties, some more successful than others, but the stunt she had pulled last year to make Aoshi show some of his secret ninja techniques she was confident he had mastered, would go down in history. When she saw Misao again one month later – that was how long she had been grounded – the small wannabe ninja had only grinned at her and said it had been worth it.

"No, I am most definitely not involved this year," Aoshi said with an air of determination around him that made Kaoru stifle a grin.

For the rest of the drive, they both remained silent.

* * *

When they arrived at the house of the Shinomori's, Misao was already expecting them in front of the door, Kamatari cheerfully standing next to her. She waved both hands in the air and ran to the car. "Kaoru-chaaaaaan! Aoshi-saaaan! You're late, hurry up, hurry up!" she called while literally bouncing around the two newcomers.

"Happy birthday, Misao-chan! Here, this is from Kamatari and me!" Kaoru said smiling, handing her best friend the small box she held. Misao's eyes grew wide as she took her present.

"Ooh! Can I open it, can I, can I?"

"Of course, go ahead!"

On their way inside, Misao swiftly ripped the paper open and eyed the unwrapped box curiously. She opened it and screamed with joy as she saw its contents.

"Oh my god, Kaoru-chan, Kamatari-chan! Kunai! And they actually look... Are they historic?" Misao's eyes widened with awe, as she examined the weapons closer. Kamatari and Kaoru both chuckled.

"Yes, they are," Kamatari explained. "I have a friend who collects ancient weapons, but he is more into swords, so he gave me these for a nice price."

Misao hugged her two friends vigorously, careful not to let her present fall to the ground, and finally entered the house. While Aoshi went upstairs to his room, Misao proceeded to lead her friends to the garden. About ten more of her friends and schoolmates were already waiting there, chattering and laughing and now, as they saw that everyone had arrived, beginning to sing Happy Birthday for her.

* * *

The party was a great success, as usual. Misao's parents brought a huge birthday cake and later some delicious food, and her grandpa came to serenade her, which seemingly embarrassed Misao to death, but made everyone else scream with laughter.

The sun already began to set, when Misao glanced at her watch, clapped her hands and said: "Guys, it's finally time for the surprise!"

Everyone fell silent at that and watched their host expectantly. The girl only grinned and whistled through her fingers.

At the piercing sound, two young girls emerged into the garden. They wore a light green and a red kimono and had their hands full of candles, chalk and other little things. The taller one went to a couch that was standing in the middle of the patio. "Here, Shinomori-san?" she asked with a look to Misao, who nodded. The younger girl then proceeded to drape a purple cloth on the couch, while the other one started to draw an intricate looking circle around it. At certain points of the circle, they added little gems, beads or a little pile of colored sand. Finally they placed the candles on the edge of the circle.

The older girl examined their work one last time and seemed to be satisfied with their work, because she called in the direction of the house: "Grandpa! We're done, you can come!"

While the girls had done their work, the party guests had started whispering to each other, a feel of excitement hanging in the air. Kaoru and Kamatari had tried to interrogate Misao what this was all about, but the birthday girl had kept silent, her only answer being "You'll see, you'll see!"

Suddenly a strange music started and everyone fell silent at once. All eyes immediately darted towards the door to the house. The music grew louder and some chanting started.

Then finally, after endless minutes it seemed, an old man came through the door. He wore the traditional attire of a Shinto priest, but instead of being white, his was light blue and his headpiece was of a bright red color. The mysterious man was tiny and wore a long chin-beard and a mustache, the ends of it reaching his chin. In his hand he held a large golden fan. He looked around seriously, and though the individual pieces of his outfit looked a bit ridiculous, his overall appearance was almost a bit intimidating.

But then the music stopped and the man started to laugh. "Ahaha, I love it when you young folks look at me like that, hahaha! Now, Shinomori-san, shall I begin? Do you want to go first?"

Everyone looked around and blinked, astonished by the sudden change in atmosphere. Kaoru was the first one who finally spoke up.

"Misao-chan... Don't you think it's time you finally explain to us what this is all about?"

"Of course!" Misao exclaimed and seemed to grin even wider than usual. "This, my dear friends, is Suzuki-sensei, who is knowledgeable about the old art of past life regression!" She looked at her guests with the expectation of outbursts of joy obvious in her expression. The guests, on the other hand, simply stared at her.

"Come on now, Misao-chan! You don't really believe that crap, do you?" someone shouted.

"Hmm, I don't know," Kamatari mused looking contemplative, his finger tapping against his mouth. "My mother believes in all kinds of this stuff, and she once dragged me to a scary woman who hypnotized me to make me remember my past reincarnations. I have no idea what exactly she did, and whether what I remembered afterward was really my past life, but I tell you, I sure got an idea for the cutest kimono ever! Unfortunately that kimono was more or less everything I remembered in the end," he laughed, and everyone had to chime in.

Suzuki-sensei himself now rose to speak. "I can assure you that I am no fraud. The knowledge about this art has been in my family for centuries and is well approved. But I also have to tell you, since I really will make you remember your past life, you won't all remember to be Cleopatra, or some Shogun. Most of you probably were simply peasants, and some of you even might have brand new souls, whose first incarnation on earth you are. Well well, shall we begin now? I can actually work on two of you at the same time, since there's enough space on the couch. Shinomori-san, you want to go first, I assume?"

"You bet!" Misao exclaimed happily. She turned around and eyed her friends and then clasped Kaoru's hand. "Don't look so skeptical, Kaoru-chan! You'll go first with me, so everyone sees this is real when you're convinced, haha!"

Rolling her eyes in her mind, Kaoru sat down next to Misao on the small couch. "Sure, if it makes you happy..."

Once the two girls were settled down, their eyes closed and their bodies somewhat relaxed, Suzuki-sensei's demeanor turned serious once again. He told the spectators to keep their distance and started to chant in an unfamiliar language. He slowly strode along the edge of the circle, three times clockwise, then five times counterclockwise. Then the old man stopped in front of the two girls once again and his voice grew louder. At what seemed to be climax of the ritual, he reached into his pocket and threw some powder onto the girls. At this point, the other party guests were so tense, they actually expected some kind of explosion or lightning. But nothing happened.

The only thing they could see from the outside was both Misao and Kaoru suddenly crying silent tears.

* * *

When the ritual began, Kaoru was shifting nervously in her seat. She didn't believe in these things, but somehow the whole atmosphere made it seem possible that something _might_ happen. She could hear the beginnings of Suzuki-sensei's chants, but at some point, all outer noises seemed to be dulled, dying away more and more, until there was nothing left than silence and darkness.

Kaoru had no idea what happened to her, but she felt safe, for a few seconds at least. Then something seemed to tug at the edge of her mind, some... memory. She suddenly found herself kneeling in front of the dojo, leaves swirling around her, exactly as in her dream.

But this time, she could see the man walking away from her. It was Kenshin. He didn't look like the Kenshin she knew, with his hakama and his long ponytail, but she knew it was the same. She wanted to get up and run after him, call his name, reach a hand for him – but she couldn't move. All she could do was kneel on the ground and cry.

Suddenly the scenery changed. Now she was in the dojo, her father teaching her the basic techniques of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu as she was still a small child. Her mother watched from the door and smiled as she turned around and ran towards her.

A change of her surroundings once again. She and Kenshin visited Tomoe-san's grave in Kyoto.

Another place, another time. Her wedding day. She was the happiest woman in the world.

Suddenly the gate which had held back her memories broke away completely and Kaoru was flooded with different memories of her former life.

She could only see short moments clearly. The birth of Kenji. She and Kenshin playing with their grandchildren in their garden. Yahiko's and Tsubame's wedding. The day she had met Kenshin. Sano leaving the country and coming back. Enishi kidnapping her. Kenshin rescuing her. Megumi coming back from Kanryu's estate. Kenshin and Saito fighting. She and Misao fighting against Kamatari. Kenshin telling her he loved her.

But suddenly, suddenly she knew everything. She remembered everything. Everything that had happened in her past life, she could clearly remember now.

Kaoru started to cry.

* * *

The first thing Kaoru saw when she opened her eyes again – after a lifetime, as it seemed to her – was Kamatari's worried gaze upon her. She couldn't help but flinch, thrown back again into the fight in front of the Aoiya for a second.

Kamatari didn't seem to notice, but offered her a hand and a friendly smile. Kaoru let him help her stand up and gazed at Misao, who was still sitting besides her. Tears were visible on the small girl's face as well, but her eyes held determination. Kaoru had to smile through her own tears for a second – she was quite sure she knew what Misao was so determined about.

She finally examined her surroundings. Everyone stared at them with slight shock visible on their faces. It wasn't often that they saw Kaoru, or Misao even, cry.

Kaoru cleared her throat and tried to speak. "I... erm, well, I..."

"I guess the party's over, guys," Misao cut her off. She managed a grin, which only her best friends recognized as a bit strained, and shooed everyone inside. With an apologizing look towards Suzuki-sensei she added: "I guess this stuff doesn't work after all. Sorry for wasting everyone's time, but it's late anyway, isn't it?" Somehow the girl managed to get everyone out of the house in record time, so that only Suzuki-sensei and his two granddaughters, Kamatari, Kaoru and herself remained.

Suzuki-sensei smiled knowingly. "This reaction is quite common. I warned you, didn't I? Did you learn what you wanted to know at least?"

This time, Misao's grin was honest. "And how I did! Actually I learned even more than I dared to hope! This was the best thing I've ever done! Don't you think so, too, Kao-" Her words broke off as she saw the emotional state her friend was in. It was obvious her friend hadn't stomached the sudden knowledge of their past lives as good as she had. Misao hurried over and hugged her.

"Shh, don't you worry! See, he's meant to be with you! Everything will turn out fine in the end, you'll see!" she whispered in the still silently crying girl's ear.

"But how... Now that he's finally happy with Tomoe-san... How could I...?" Kaoru whispered back.

Suddenly they were interrupted by Kamatari clapping his hands. "Now now, ladies, I have no idea what exactly is going on here, but to me it would seem that dear Suzuki-sensei here did indeed awaken some kind of memory in you?" he asked with an inquiring look.

Misao and Kaoru fidgeted, remorsefully looking back at him. Both of them knew it was stupid, after all those years they had known Kamatari and had been best friends with him, but the shock of learning that they had once fought each other as enemies was something they would have to sleep over for at least one night.

Kamatari shot them a suspicious glance, but then smiled and turned to Suzuki-sensei. "Nee, Suzuki-sensei, shall I bring you home? Then those two over there won't have to whisper anymore."

Kamatari turned around a last time and winked at Misao and Kaoru, and disappeared with Suzuki-sensei and the two little girls into the night.

Kaoru slowly walked into the living room and let herself fall into an armchair. She rubbed her cheeks and let out a deep sigh. Her tears had finally dried, but she still wasn't sure what to say, what to do, or even what to feel. Wearily she looked at Misao.

"For god's sake, Misao, how could you do something like this on your birthday party? Did you really think it would work? And if yes – how could you do that on your birthday party?"

Misao had the decency to look a little bit ashamed. "Well, I wasn't sure if it would really work... Actually I thought it wouldn't. And how could I know the result would be like this? You see, I hoped that maybe I had been-" She was interrupted by the sound of the door being unlocked. Soon after, her mother's voice sounded through the house.

"Misao-chan! Where are you? Is everyone already gone? Where- Oh, there you are! Good evening, Kaoru-san!" Misao's mother walked into the living room, followed by her father, grandfather and Aoshi. Learning from last year, they had gone out to escape the biggest commotion this time. As she saw the look on the faces of her daughter and her friend, she hurried over.

"Is everything alright with you two? Did that Suzuki tell you strange things? I told you it was a bad idea to hire such a fraud!"

"No no, Mom, everything's fine. Actually, it's never been better! But I think we shouldn't let Kaoru-chan take the bus, she's a bit, er..." Misao struggled to find the right words, but her mother only nodded and threw her car keys over her shoulder. "Would you please drive them, Aoshi-kun? Then I can start to eliminate the chaos here."

Her daughter didn't wait for an answer, but jumped up, pulled Kaoru with her and stormed through the front door to the car.

Outside, Misao considered Kaoru pensively.

"You know... I must confess, I think your father's now officially even more creepy than he was before. And I never thought that to be possible."

Kaoru only looked at her friend bewildered for a moment, her face turning pale when the implications of what Misao had just said dawned on her. She resolutely shook her head a second later though.

"Well, you might think so. But he's my father now, and it doesn't matter what he might have done in a past life. And I know you can't believe it, but he's always been a wonderful father! Though... Actually his motto of education suddenly makes a lot more sense!" For the first time after tonight's revelations, Kaoru heartily laughed again. In fact, she couldn't stop laughing. Maybe it was a bit hysterical, but to her it didn't matter. Laughing simply felt too good.

She was still laughing when they finally all sat down in the car. She even had to laugh as Aoshi looked at her, seemingly pondering whether he should drive to an asylum instead of her house.

And she couldn't stop her tears of laughter when Misao smiled at their driver and said "Thanks so much for driving us, Aoshi-sama!"

Everyone else would have crumpled away under Aoshi's glare of death, but Misao simply smiled even brighter.

"Did you just call me... Aoshi-sama?"

"Yep!"

"And," his eye twitched, "would you tell me how I earned that honor?"

"Nope!"

Misao chimed in to Kaoru's laughter, and both of them couldn't calm down until they reached their destination.

* * *

Kaoru quickly said goodbye and moved towards the house. As she saw the car standing in the driveway, she began to run. Her parents were exactly the people she needed to see right now, no matter how their relationship in any other life might have been.

She stormed into the kitchen and flung her arms around her parents' necks. "Mom! Dad!" she cried. Her mother happily hugged her back, while her father simply flicked off the ash of his cigarette.

"Well well, it's been a while since I've been greeted this enthusiastically."

In this life or another, Saito Hajime had never been the person to easily show his emotions. As far as Kaoru knew, that probably wouldn't change ever.

* * *

**A last note: **So that's the first chapter! I hope you liked it - reviews of any kind are very highly welcomed!

To add a last disclaimer: A certain mole is most definitely owned by Takeru Satoh, since it's in his face, hihi :)


	2. Tears

**Author's Note:** I must warn you! My beta is currently very busy with school, so unfortunately she didn't have the time to look at this chapter yet. But since it's been lying on my hard drive for some while now, I didn't want to make you wait any longer and publish it. I'll replace it with the edited version as soon as possible.

Therefore, I apologize for the horrible and awkward English (it's not my native language...) - if you get very annoyed by grammar mistakes and the like, you should probably wait for the edited version...

I hope the next chapter won't have such a long wait as this one, but I'm afraid I can't promise anything...

Before I forget it: Big thanks once again to Luna, who helped me a lot with the wedding stuff!

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately, I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. If I did, we'd have an awesome animated version of the Jinchuu arc by now!

* * *

**Chapter Two**

**Tears**

Kaoru took a step back and looked at her parents. She hadn't known Saito Tokio during the Meiji era, but she guessed that her mother had had the same long, black hair and dark brown eyes as she had now. That, and the same kind smile everyone thought she always wore, but which could change into a piercing look directly into one's soul as fast as a summer storm approached, as her family knew only too well.

Right now, Tokio nudged her husband, who was a spitting image of his Meiji era self. "Oh, so I'm not enthusiastic enough anymore for your taste, Hajime? Maybe I should stop the... greeting altogether for a while, so you will appreciate it more?" she asked with one eyebrow raised, mocking him openly.

Saito only took a last pull on his cigarette and carefully stubbed it out before turning a bit to face the woman to his side. "Like I couldn't do the couple of days without your _greeting_ before you come crawling back on your knees to me, wife!"

Kaoru noticed the sparkle in her mothers eyes and decided it was definitely time to retreat to her room. She sighed and rolled her eyes while going upstairs and thought that it was probably better to put her headphones on tonight, just in case. Reaching her room, she slammed the door shut and fell on her bed, suddenly feeling absolutely exhausted.

Images and memories wavered in her mind. Kaoru still felt that she couldn't really grasp the whole meaning of her recent experience yet. She felt so many things at the same time. Excitement about the general idea of having a past life and remembering it even. Happiness when she thought about the turn that past life had taken at a certain point. Sadness about what had happened before she had finally been able to claim that happiness. She also felt her love for Kenshin suddenly exponentially increased, too large for her young heart actually.

That was something she really didn't want to elaborate further tonight, though. For now, all she wanted to do was sleep.

* * *

Misao sat on the bed in her dark room, legs crossed and chewing on her lip. Maybe Kaoru and Kamatari were right and she _should_ try thinking before acting more often. Not that she regretted calling Suzuki-sensei, but in hindsight it was such a bad idea to do that on her birthday party. She was only happy that she had asked Kaoru to be the first along with her. What would have happened if it had been Kamatari and the boy suddenly decided he wanted to antagonize them once again?

She sighed and shook her head. No, no, no, she would not let that happen! Even after their fight at the Aoiya, Misao had been able to understand why Kamatari had acted like he had in a way, but now that she knew what a sweet and caring person her friend actually was, she would never let him fall for the wrong guy again. Maybe she should actually start looking for a boyfriend for him. Couldn't be that difficult, after all.

Ah, but first thing she would do in the morning was to call Kaoru and get back at her for not believing she really was the descendant of ninjas, and the modern Oniwabanshu was in fact the successor organization of the Oniwabanshu that had once guarded the castle of Edo.

Then again, it probably wasn't a good idea to tease Kaoru right now. That girl had been lovesick enough even before, and now it probably was getting only worse. Why couldn't Himura simply see what he had in her? The problem was Tomoe-san being alive and in love with him, of course... Not that she begrudged them their happiness, but she couldn't see Kaoru suffer, either. Why did it always have to be that complicated with Himura?

Speaking of complicated... Not that her own situation was easier. Deep down, she had always known that she and Aoshi-sama were meant for each other. And now she had proof. Well, kinda. At least for herself. All she had to do now, was to convince Aoshi-sama of the same and get rid of that fox. Which probably would have been a lot easier if Sano would have been around. As far as she knew, he unfortunately wasn't. Maybe she should ask Kaoru about it tomorrow. Helping Kaoru was more important anyway, since it was only a week until the wedding. And even she wouldn't dare to try ruining a marriage. Or would she...? No, no, no!

Misao was so caught up in her own thoughts, she didn't notice her parents carefully opening the door and checking on her. They only looked at each other as they saw their only daughter tear at her hair, roll around on the bed, grimace and mumble to herself. They were used to it after all.

* * *

The next day was a Sunday. Kaoru woke up extremely early, a fact for which she was thankful. This way, no one noticed that she put on her keikogi and hakama, took her bokuto and left the house.

She headed towards a nearby park, where she started practicing simple strokes first and later the more complicated katas. After executing a particular complicated one perfectly, she wanted to lie down in the grass, when she repeated the movements in her head and suddenly noticed something.

Without even meaning to, Kaoru had performed some of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu techniques she wasn't even supposed to know yet. Apparently her body remembered on its own. So there obviously were benefits to the current situation, who would have guessed? That would make teaching tomorrow so much easier.

After almost six hours, Kaoru went back home. Her mother was in the middle of preparing lunch and only smiled at her. Tokio knew well enough that her second daughter didn't want to talk about whatever she was brooding over when she decided to let her sword do the talking and thinking for a while. If it was important, she would come to talk later. She was exactly like her father in that aspect.

Kaoru did indeed brood over something the rest of the day. Misao sent her a text message, that she wanted to meet, but she didn't want to talk about it today. First, she needed to become clear how she wanted to handle the situation for herself.

* * *

When Kaoru and Yahiko finally appeared at the dojo for the beginner's lesson the next morning, they were more than surprised to see Misao standing at the gate. Kaoru didn't think her friend had ever been at the dojo before. Well, not in this life at least.

She stopped and gazed at the girl, who had strange look on her face. "Misao-chan! What are you doing here?"

Misao took a deep breath and stared at the sign of the dojo. "It's a bit strange to come here today, isn't it?" she smiled.

"Yeah," Kaoru smiled back. "But, seriously, what are you doing here? Are you angry because I didn't want to see you yesterday?"

"Oh no, of course not." Misao pushed away from the wall and waved her hand. She grinned her broadest grin and gave Kaoru a thumbs up. "I'm only here for emotional support!"

"Hey weasel girl, what the hell are you talking about? The ugly is only trying to teach today, she isn't going to war or anything!" Yahiko muttered.

Kaoru and Misao looked at each other. Then both of them chirped simultaneously "Yahiko-chan... Shut. Up!" and underlined their last words with punches to his head.

Ignoring the complaining boy, Misao looked at her friend questioningly. "You sure, you're okay? You can tell me, you know!"

Once again, Yahiko interrupted them. This time, he had an earnest look on his face. "Seriously, what are you talking about? Is there something I should know?"

Exasperated, Kaoru turned towards her little brother. "Yahiko, could you please leave us alone for a minute? I have to talk to Misao, and it's nothing you need to know about."

"Of course I have to know if you're in trouble, ugly! Someone has to defend your honor, right?" Yahiko grinned.

That was too much for Kaoru. Her already worn out nerves snapped.

"God, Yahiko! Just leave us alone for a minute, is that too much to ask? If you don't go, I'll tell Tsubame-chan how you looked at that girl at the Akabeko last week!" she yelled with might and main.

Unfortunately it didn't have the desired effect. Instead of blushing, stammering and retreating, Yahiko simply looked at her bewildered.

"Erm... Okay... Well, go ahead and tell Tsubame-chan. Whoever that might be," he said carefully. "And whatever that Akabeko is..."

Kaoru now looked almost as bewildered as Yahiko. "What do you mean, whoever that might be? I'm talking about Tsubame-chan! Your- _What_?" she snapped at Misao, who had been coughing and tugging at Kaoru's sleeve for quite a while now.

"Kaoru-chan," she whispered and leaned over. "There is no Tsubame in this life! And no Akabeko! At least none that I know of..."

"Oh...!" Kaoru was mortified. Maybe it was for the best that Misao had come. She couldn't keep making mistakes like that, especially not here, or she would never be able to set foot in the dojo again. She really hoped with time passing, she would be able to better control the memories of her two different lives and not mix them up anymore. For now, that was still a little bit hard. And she hadn't even interacted with too many people so far. And especially not with a certain someone.

"Ah, whatever! We better go now, or I'll be too late for my first lesson and I won't give that little moron over there that satisfaction!" she finally said resolutely.

* * *

When Kaoru later entered the training hall, she was greeted by Himura-sensei. She introduced Misao and explained that her friend would like to watch the lesson today.

Himura-sensei didn't have any objections, and so Misao took seat at the side of the hall. He then introduced Kaoru to the students and explained why she would be teaching the next six weeks. He also offered to stay and watch the first day, in case she had any questions or problems, but Kaoru politely declined. She knew she would be able to handle a lesson like this easily.

And she was right. This time, she deliberately let the memories take over and so she had no problem teaching or putting some of the bolder students in their place. After the first three guys who didn't listen to her or talked too much had been thoroughly yelled at, no one dared to misbehave anymore. Even Yahiko didn't call her "Ugly".

At the end of the lesson, Kaoru was so lost in her own world that she shrieked when Misao suddenly jumped on her back from the behind and shouted "That was great, Kaoru-chan, simply great!" directly into her ear. She was very thankful though, when Misao added in a whisper: "Don't get startled, Himura's been sitting over there for fifteen minutes. Oh, and he's totally coming over right now."

Misao could feel Kaoru tense at once. She glided down from her back, took one of her arms and patted her hand. Then both of them turned around, strained smiles on their faces.

"Kaoru-san! Congratulations on your first lesson, that was really excellent," Kenshin said in his usual kind tone. "I must confess though, when you yelled at poor Sasuke-kun, you were almost as frightening as an Oni!" he added with an innocent smile on his face.

At this comment, Kaoru exploded, as she always did when Kenshin teased her. As always, she smacked his head with her shinai, several times and not too gentle, and screamed "Kenshin, you IDIOT!"

And as always, Kenshin didn't dodge and let out a surprised "Oro!"

Only this time, he stared at her with an expression of shock, mixed with some other emotion she wasn't able to place. This was the moment she remembered that she didn't want to make any more mistakes. And hitting Kenshin on the head, something she'd never done so far in _this_ life, certainly counted as one.

"Oh my god! Kenshin, I'm so sorry! I don't know, what... I didn't... Really, I am _so_ sorry!" Kaoru stammered, turning beet-red and wishing for hole to open underneath her feet. She didn't dare to look at the man standing in front of her and fixed her gaze at the suddenly very interesting floor instead.

"Ahaha, don't worry about it, Kaoru-san, it's alright!" he only chuckled. "Actually, I've always wondered when I would finally be the target of your rage. I almost felt left out of the fun."

Kaoru lifted her head a bit at his words, but immediately lowered it again, as she saw him winking at her.

Once again, Kaoru thanked the gods for Misao deciding to come by today, as the small girl rushed to her help.

"Great, now that everyone in the room had been hit on the head by Kaoru-chan at least once, maybe we should properly introduce ourselves? I'm Shinomori Misao, one of Kaoru-chan's best friends, and it's a pleasure to meet you." Misao bowed down and looked at Kenshin expectantly.

Kenshin bowed as well and smiled at Misao. "My name is Himura Kenshin, son of the current master of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, and it's a pleasure to meet you as well. Actually, my father asked me to invite Kaoru-san for dinner tonight, maybe you would like to accompany us? It will only be me doing the cooking though, so please don't expect too much."

Misao beamed at that invitation. "I'd love to, especially if you still cook as good as- Er, I'd love to!"

Kenshin glanced at her inquiringly, but didn't comment any further.

* * *

Both Kaoru and Misao spent the rest of the day at the dojo. Kaoru was busy giving classes, or training herself, while Misao either watched the training, bickered with Yahiko, who spent a good of the day at the dojo himself, or simply sat outside in the yard, shooting more than one nervous glance at her mobile.

"Now, whose call are you waiting for?"

Misao jumped when she suddenly heard Kaoru's voice next to her. The girl even had the nerve to giggle at her startled face.

"Who would have thought that one day I'd be able to sneak up on you instead of the other way round? I really have to mark this day in my calendar!" Kaoru remarked happily. She had already changed out of her hakama and was now wearing a dark red yukata.

"Huh? Wearing a yukata? I didn't even know you owned more than one. Oh, and I tried to reach Kamatari, but he doesn't pick up his phone or answers my text messages," Misao added frustrated.

"Yeah, I kinda felt like it. And don't worry about Kamatari. Didn't he say something about a job during the holidays or something like that? He probably worked all day and tomorrow you'll find a super annoyed message on your mailbox, asking why you bothered him all day."

"I guess you're right..." Misao answered thoughtfully. She quickly let a grin appear on her face once again, though.

"Well, ready for the big dinner? I would guess, if you survive this evening, I mean, with eating here of all things," she gestured around the dojo with her hands, "and everything, you will be able to survive the rest of the week as well. And I swear," Misao lowered her voice at the last sentence, "I will make sure that this wedding won't happen. Okay, I have no idea how yet, but that's only a temporary setback. I will find a way to open Himura's eyes and then he and you-"

Kaoru's determined voice interrupted her. She held up a hand and looked straight into her friend's eyes.

"Misao. Please, don't. I've made up my mind about this. I can't deny that I'm sad, but that doesn't matter. Kenshin's happiness is all that counts to me. He was cheated out of a happy life with Tomoe-san last time, and as sad as that is, it was the chance for my own happiness. But now it's Tomoe-san's turn. I'm more than glad that I was able to experience what was meant to be hers from the beginning at least one time. I guess they are simply destined to be with each other. We shouldn't try to interfere with destiny."

She smiled a sad little smile.

"And hey, I'm only 17! Can't be that hard to find another guy, right?" she added with a shallow grin.

Misao looked at her friend doubtfully. Kaoru seemed to have matured over night. Well, there probably was no surprise to that. Even she felt a little bit more mature than only a few days ago.

"Are you sure? And are you sure about the dinner? Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all..."

"Yes, I am sure, Misao. I can't run and hide from him all my life. And I meant what I said – I want him to be happy. I won't cry or sulk anymore. I will be strong and smile, and if Kenshin should ever need me, I will be there for him."

Misao hugged her vigorously. "But if you want to cry, you can always come to me, understood? I wish I could be strong as you. No matter what I have to do, I will make sure Aoshi-sama will be mine in the end!"

Kaoru had to giggle. "Poor Megumi! Actually, poor Megumi indeed. I guess I can finally really understand her feelings. Too bad Sano isn't here, hm?"

"You know, maybe we should try to find him!" Misao exclaimed. "That would make things in the Aoshi-sama matter way easier, I would guess. And I mean, I really like Megumi-san, I would feel bad for her, if I simply stole her boyfriend from her without leaving any replacement."

Rolling her eyes, Kaoru started to head towards the dining room of the dojo. "Yeah, let Sano hear that he's only a replacement and he's going to have your head. If Megumi isn't faster."

* * *

When the two girls arrived at the dining room, they saw everyone sitting outside on the engawa.

Besides Kenshin and his father, there were two other persons sitting around: A beautiful woman, probably about Kenshin's age, with skin like porcelain and long, smooth, silk like black hair. She had a serious expression on her face, but there was warmth obvious in her eyes.

Sitting across from Kenshin and the woman was a young man, a few years older than Kaoru, with tousled brown hair, who was laughing heartily about something at the moment.

Misao made huge eyes at the woman. "Is that...?" she whispered into Kaoru's ear.

Kaoru only nodded and cleared her throat to make their appearance known.

Everyone looked at them at once and they were happily greeted. Kenshin stood up and guided the two girls to their seats.

"Kaoru-san, Misao-san, I'm glad that you came! Please, let me introduce everybody," he said and turned towards his father first.

"Father, you know Kaoru-san of course. This is Shinomori Misao, a good friend of her. Misao-san, may I introduce you to Himura Shinta, my father and current master of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu."

Both of the girls raised their eyebrows at hearing Himura-sensei's name, but hid it by bowing politely. Himura-sensei, who seemed to have tasted a little too much Sake already, only nodded back and gruffly said in direction of his son: "At least my stupid son knows how to introduce someone properly. Maybe not all of my education was wasted."

Apparently used to comments like this, Kenshin chose to ignore it, and continued with the introductions. "Tomoe, Kaoru-san, you already know each other. Misao-san, this is Akahara Tomoe, my fiancée."

Tomoe looked up and gave both of them a short, but honest smile. Once again, Kaoru and Misao bowed and smiled back.

Finally, Kenshin gestured towards the young man, who was now looking curiously at them.

"And this is Tomoe's brother, Akahara Enishi. He just arrived to- Kaoru-san!" he shouted when Kaoru suddenly dropped to her knees.

At the moment she heard Enishi's name, Kaoru's mind went blank. Her face paled within a second and she couldn't feel her limbs anymore. She suddenly saw Enishi smirking from his balloon. Enishi's hateful glare on her during his fight with Kenshin in front of the dojo. Enishi holding her captive on his island. Enishi being intent on killing Kenshin.

All she could hear was her own blood rushing through her veins and a dulled growl coming from next to her.

Then, with a sudden, the present came back to her, when two concerned dark blue eyes stared at her intently and two strong arms gently lifted her up.

"Kaoru-san, are you alright? Are you not feeling well? Should we call a doctor?" Kenshin asked in a low voice.

For a short moment, Kaoru allowed herself to look back into his eyes and enjoy the feeling of him holding her. She wished she could tell him everything. Tell him why she had felt such a shock when she heard Enishi's name and recognized him. Tell him how much she loved him. Tell him that he couldn't marry Tomoe and that he was supposed to be with her. Tell him that they had already been happily married with children and that they could be as happy as back then again. Tell him that she would always love him, forever.

She could feel tears prick at the corner of her eyes. But of course she wouldn't do that. She couldn't destroy his happiness like that. Or Tomoe-san's for that matter. Both of them deserved to be happy. She had sworn to herself that she would never tell anybody about what she knew, and she had meant it. She had always been strong and she wouldn't start getting weak now.

She slowly took a step back and escaped Kenshin's soft grip. Taking a deep breath, she let a weak, but steady smile appear on her face.

"I'm so sorry Kenshin, everybody. It seems I... I don't know, maybe I just overdid training a bit today or something. Please, don't worry, a bit to eat and to drink and I'm sure I'm as good as new."

She could feel Misao, who was quite worked up herself, support her as they both sat down between Enishi and Tomoe.

Enishi worriedly gazed at them. "You know, for a minute there I thought that was because of me."

Kaoru suspiciously looked back at him, but all she could see in his eyes was earnest worry and a grin slowly forming on his face.

"But then I guess I should be used to girls fainting at my sight by now!" he added with a suggestive tone in his voice, winking at them.

Misao and Kaoru both let him feel what they thought about that particular comment, and suddenly the world seemed alright again.

The rest of the evening was fun. As expected, Kenshin's cooking was excellent and all of them had a good time talking about mostly trivial things. They learned that Enishi was normally living and working in Shanghai and had flown in because of the wedding. Kaoru noticed she could even enjoy talking about the wedding and the last preparations that had to be made, when she suppressed the thought of _whose_ wedding they were talking about.

As the dinner finally got to an end, Enishi offered to walk both girls home on the way to his hotel. Misao declined, because she wanted to pay a short visit to Kamatari on her way home, but Kaoru gladly accepted. She was more than delighted that she could walk home in the night with Enishi without having any second thoughts about it or feeling uneasy. It seemed that to both Tomoe and Enishi, this life really had been very kind. For a second she thought wryly 'Ha, but maybe I'm not really the person who should believe her instincts when it comes to trusting people', but she shoved that thought away. She could feel that this time, Enishi was different.

At a crossroads, she said Misao goodbye, who determinedly whispered "You call me when you're home!" in her ear and she and Enishi went on their way home.

They were walking in a comfortable silence, when suddenly Enishi's voice sounded through the night.

"So you like him, huh?"

Kaoru froze. "Wha-what do you mean? Like whom?" she stammered, her face blushing.

"Kenshin of course."

She looked up at his face from under her lashes. He didn't seem to mock her, so she decided to answer.

"Is it that obvious?" she asked with a little awkward chuckle.

"Well, I'm an exceptionally observant guy" Enishi answered smugly. "In contrast to certain other people."

Kaoru looked at him pleadingly. "Please don't tell anybody!"

He seemed surprised by that. "Of course I won't. I'm not someone who interferes in other people's lives. But don't you plan to do something? Maybe you should tell him."

Shaking her head, Kaoru started to walk again. "Why should I tell him? That would only trouble everyone. I'm... Of course I'm not really excited about the wedding," she confessed with a rueful smile on her face, "but I want Kenshin to be happy. And Tomoe-san as well."

Enishi let out a little sigh. "Me too, me too." And in a whisper so low that Kaoru never heard it, he added: "You really should tell him."

* * *

During the next days, Kaoru managed to get her act together so well, that in the end she almost believed herself that the upcoming wedding the following Saturday wouldn't bother her at all. She spent most of her day at the dojo, the training and giving lessons calming her mind down so much, that she even could genuinely enjoy Kenshin's and Tomoe's presence, without wanting to run away and cry out of heartache.

In the evenings, she relished her mother's food, bickered with Yahiko or visited Megumi on her free day from the hospital. She enjoyed her first week of holidays so much, she didn't question the fact that she hadn't heard from Kamatari at all since the birthday party, and simply put the blame on his part-time job. That changed though, when Misao came to the Saitos' house at Thursday evening.

When the girl entered the living room where the whole family was gathered, she had an unusual frown on her worried face.

"Well well, what's wrong with you, weasel girl? Something happened to your Aoshi?" Saito asked mockingly at her entrance.

Misao only looked at him seemingly confused for a moment and then shook her head. "I'm glad you're home, Saito-san!"

Kaoru already hurried over and led her to a chair, while her father only raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong, Misao-chan? Did something happen?" Kaoru asked her agitated friend in a calming manner.

"Yes. No. I don't know." Misao wrung her hands. "I'm afraid something happened to Kamatari!" she finally burst out.

Kaoru frowned. "Do you mean because he didn't call for a while now? I'm sure he's just busy with his job and too tired to call after he's done. He'll probably call on the weekend."

"I know, I know, I thought so, too, but..." She started to sob and squeeze Kaoru's hands in a painful way. "He never showed up at his workplace! And I went to his apartment every day now and he never opened. He doesn't seem to be home. And his mobile is turned off, probably the battery ran out."

This finally piqued Saito's interest. He went over to his daughter and her friend and knelt in front of the crying girl. Then he asked in a surprisingly gentle voice: "When exactly did you see him the last time? And did you notice anything unusual about his behavior or outside his apartment?"

Misao shook her head. "I saw him the last time on Saturday, after the party. He wanted to bring Suzuki-sensei home. Actually I think they might have been mugged or kidnapped or whatever together, because I couldn't reach Suzuki-sensei either since then, and he didn't receive his payment yet!"

Kaoru suddenly felt a pang of remorse. She had been so absorbed in her own problems, she hadn't spent a second thought on Kamatari not calling or giving any life signs. And Misao, who had the same troubles as her, had faithfully tried to reach and visit their friend every day. What kind of friend was she?

She hugged Misao tight and whispered into her ear: "I'm so sorry I didn't take it serious earlier... I'm so sorry... But I'm sure they're okay! You know Kamatari, he always comes out okay in the end."

Meanwhile, Saito scribbled something on his notepad. "What's the boy's full name? How old is he? Shouldn't his parents have noticed that he didn't come home and called the police by now?"

"Maruyama Kamatari. He's 18 and has lived alone for a couple of years now. His parents weren't too happy with his, um, lifestyle," Kaoru answered.

"I see. I need a detailed description of him and that Suzuki-sensei. We'll do what we can," her father said shortly, already taking out his phone and pounding in a number.

* * *

They didn't hear anything the next day, neither from Kamatari or Suzuki-sensei themselves, nor from the police. No word either on Saturday, the day Kaoru had dreaded ever since she knew it would come.

The day of the wedding.

Kaoru had managed to push the thought of it away quite well during the last week. Even when she woke up in the morning and ate her breakfast, she didn't think too much about it. Her morning chores distracted her mind as well.

But now it was time for her to change and while she absentmindedly put on her kimono, she wanted to do nothing more than crawl into her bed, hide under the blanket and never face the outside world again. That really wasn't too much to ask, was it?

Her hands trembled slightly as she tied her black hair into a ponytail with an indigo ribbon. Then she gazed at her image in the mirror a last time. To be honest, she looked horrible. Her face was too pale, there were huge circles around her eyes and her gaze was strangely dim. She tried to grin, but failed miserably. Taking a deep breath, she squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white. Counting to ten, she slowly breathed in and out. As she opened her eyes once again and tried another smile, it at least didn't look like she was going to murder someone with an ax any minute anymore. She spent ten more minutes in front of the mirror until she could convince herself that her smile was real and finally went downstairs.

* * *

Tokio dropped her daughter off at the dojo, throwing her a worried glance, but not saying a word. As always, Kaoru was more than thankful for her mother's ability to know when silence was exactly what she needed the most. She waved her hand as she left the car and finally entered through the gate of what once had been her dojo.

The yard and the house were brimming over with people. Kenshin's and Tomoe's friends were standing or sitting around, chatting and laughing as they waited for the bridal pair who would be married in a Shinto ceremony with only the family attending at a nearby temple and join them later for the party. Kaoru joined a group of people she knew from the dojo, some instructors and older students. She tried her best to blend in and pretend to be happy as everyone else, but after twenty minutes, she couldn't take it anymore.

She excused herself and vanished to a silent corner behind the house where she knew no one would look for her.

It was three o'clock now. Which meant, that right at this moment, Kenshin and Tomoe were at the ward office, sealing their marriage certificate. Sealing Kaoru's fate.

She had tried. She had honestly tried to only be happy for the both of them. And she was, she was delighted that Tomoe-san was alive and breathing and that Kenshin could live his life with the woman he loved. But why had it to be Tomoe? Why couldn't it be her? If only she had been born ten years earlier. If only she had met Kenshin earlier, before Tomoe. Then maybe he would love her today. For a second, Kaoru was almost tempted to wish something had happened to Tomoe, but she directly hated herself for the thought. She was being unfair and she knew it. But today, she couldn't help it. Today, she wanted to act like a spoiled child, crying and screaming out all her anguish for the whole world to hear. But of course she would not do that. She had no right to destroy the happiest day in the life of the person she cared for the most. She wanted him to be happy and it was not her decision who could and would do that for him. It didn't matter at all that her world ended today. The sun would rise tomorrow just as it always had.

Kaoru was crouched down with her hands clenched and her eyes closed. The sound of her blood rushing through her veins was almost deafening and she desperately tried to fight off the feeling of suffocating that overwhelmed her. She whimpered as a single tear ran down her cheek.

It didn't matter. Her feelings didn't matter at all. She had decided to be strong for Kenshin and she would be. And even if she was alone for the rest of her life, she wouldn't be lonely. She always had him as a friend and that really was everything she could ask for. It would have to be enough.

She tried to shut out the memory of Kenshin's loving gaze as he held Kenji in his arms for the first time, when suddenly a hand gently touched her shoulder.

For a second, she was sure it was Kenshin who had come back to her to tell her that he would never leave her again, but of course it wasn't. Her teary look fell onto Enishi who knelt beside her with a sympathetic look on his face. She quickly rubbed her eyes with one hand and put on the smile she had trained earlier.

"Enishi-san, how nice to see you again! So the ceremony is already over, I take it?" she asked in a cheerful tone.

He smiled at her, clearly not being fooled for a second. "No, that should still be in full swing. I didn't attend. I couldn't stand to watch it."

Kaoru looked at him confused, a worried frown visible in her face. "So you are against the marriage? Do you- You don't like Kenshin?"

He smiled reassuringly. "No no, don't worry, I like him, he sure is a great guy for what he's gone through. Let's just say... Ah, actually better not talk about it at all. It would only make putting on our happy faces later more difficult, wouldn't it?" he grinned.

Kaoru couldn't help but smile back. "I guess it would. I'm sorry you had to see me in such a state." She stood up and determinedly dried her last tears. "I'm okay now. Thank you."

Enishi nodded at her. They stayed another few seconds in silence, and finally headed back to the front.

* * *

An hour later, the bridal couple and its families arrived at the dojo. There was shouting and cheering as everyone wanted to congratulate them first.

Kaoru avoided the masses at the front and stayed behind. When her sight finally fell on Kenshin and Tomoe, her heart clenched. They had already changed out of the formal kimonos and into a bit more casual, but still traditional attire. They looked a bit rattled, but also extremely happy. When she stepped forward to compliment them, Kenshin's smile widened and her breath caught. She couldn't remember ever seeing him this happy and carefree before. In neither of his lives. A small smile formed on her lips. If this was how Tomoe could make him look like, she was truly thankful the woman had fallen in love with Kenshin. As if they had heard her thoughts, the couple looked at each other and shared a smile before looking back to Kaoru who hurried to say her congratulations.

Kenshin was truly happy. He had anticipated this day for a long time now and while he knew that there were still difficulties ahead, to him it felt like the first day of the rest of his life. Looking at the black haired woman he loved so much and who never failed to make his heart beat faster with her smile, he had to smile himself. Whatever lay ahead, he wouldn't let his reason of happiness escape his grip ever again.

* * *

Please let me know what you think! And don't feel shy to point out all the errors I made ~_~


	3. Kasshin Ryu Reborn

**Author's note**: Hi Guys! I'm sooo sorry that this chaper took so long! Real life got me in its ugly claws U.U" (Especially the start of university and the resulting lack of sleep...)

I'll do my very best to make the next chapter happen sooner, though I can't really promise anything...

And thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, favourited or simply followed the story, that really means so much to me!

**Disclaimer: **Unfortunately, I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Kasshin Ryu Reborn **

When Megumi woke up, she was in pure bliss. She had started her year as a Junior Doctor only a few weeks ago and this was her first free Sunday since then. Not only did that mean she had been able to sleep in, but she also wasn't alone. She turned around and adjusted her position a bit, so she could have a better look at the man lying beside her. Aoshi was still sound asleep, his black bangs falling into his face. Megumi smiled – she loved looking into his blue eyes, but she also loved watching him sleep, when he finally seemed to be able to relax. Their relationship had started only two months ago and she wasn't sure, yet, whether she loved him or not, but she definitely cared for him a lot.

Her thoughts were suddenly disrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing. It was almost hesitant at first, but by the second time the bell rang, it definitely sounded enraged. And it didn't stop.

The young woman groaned and left the bed to put on her bathrobe. She heard Aoshi shift in bed and groaned again. Though she probably couldn't expect anyone to stay asleep during an uproar like this, let alone Shinomori Aoshi, who seemed to practically never let his guard down.

"Who is it?" he asked in such a low voice that she almost couldn't hear him against the noise of the still ringing bell.

"I have a strong suspicion. Just stay in bed, I'll shoo her away."

"There is no need for that. I have to leave for work anyway," Aoshi said while already dressing.

"Eh? What do you mean, you have to work? I thought you didn't have any cases that needed your attention this weekend!" Megumi was surprised, and also slightly irritated. He had promised her to be free this Sunday after all! She finally got to the door and opened.

Just as she had expected, she found her little sister maltreating the bell button with an annoyed look on her face. The second the door opened, Kaoru flung herself into Megumi's arms, hugging her tight.

"Ohh, I'm so glad you don't have to work today! I couldn't bear them anymore! I just had to- Err, you don't have any, er, guests, do you...?" she added as the thought suddenly hit her.

Megumi turned on her heel and tossed back her hair. "As a matter of fact, I have. But apparently," she angrily narrowed her eyes on Aoshi, who had just entered the room, "he wants to leave anyway."

Kaoru blushed and wrung her hands. "I'm really sorry, I didn't think... I'll leave right away."

"No need to apologize" Aoshi replied as he calmly took his light cloak from the coat rack. "I already told Megumi that I need to leave."

That remark infuriated his girlfriend to no end. "Oh right, and once you told Megumi, you can never take it back or change your mind again, huh?" she snapped at him, her hands on her hips and her face red with anger. "At least tell me what the hell is so important you can't tend to it tomorrow!"

"One of my contacts possibly saw Maruyama-kun last night. Misao had asked for my assistance in his case," he answered in his usual calm tone, apparently not very concerned about Megumi's rage.

"Maru- Kamatari-chan? Case? Do you mean something happened to him?" Megumi was obviously deeply struck by this news. She had always liked the boy since the first time her sister had brought him home.

Kaoru's face now showed deep concern. "I'm so sorry! I thought Dad told you... Kamatari-chan's missing. We last saw him on Misao-chan's birthday and haven't heard a word from him since then..."

Megumi turned towards Aoshi once again. "Then what are you waiting for? Stop wasting your time here and find him already!" she almost yelled at him.

He only nodded and left the apartment, but Megumi would have sworn she saw a little smile form on his lips for a second.

After the door fell shut, she looked at her younger sister. "Kaoru... You look like something even the cat wouldn't drag in. So what did they do to you that you fled from home? Yahiko calling you ugly all the time? Not that I wouldn't agree with him today. Dad being just his usual charming self?"

"No, not at all! It's even worse," Kaoru said miserably while halfheartedly playing with a strand of her unkempt hair. "They are all so incredibly nice to me! It's driving me nuts! Mom is trying to stuff me with all kinds of unhealthy food, Yahiko is tiptoeing around me like I'm a Fabergé egg – he even said something about my hair, can you believe that? Something nice, I mean! And Dad is the worst of all. I swear, he tried to make smalltalk with me, about the nice weather, and if I was planning something for the day and so on. Without one single sarcastic comment at all. I didn't even know that was possible without the universe imploding. And he did that- that smile thing! It creeped me out to no end!"

Megumi had to hide her upcoming laughter at hearing that story. "The smile thing? You mean that 'I'm all innocent and couldn't hurt a fly' smile he always uses on his suspects in the beginning?" she asked incredulous.

"Exactly that! I feel like I'm going to die next week and no one dared to tell me yet," Kaoru shouted out. For a second the looked doubtfully. "Er... I won't, will I?"

This time, Megumi didn't hide her laugh. "Of course not, silly. Or at least no one bothered to tell the doctor in the family either. They're simply worried, you know? How you would take the wedding and all."

"I'm fine," Kaoru replied with a determined voice, but held her look strictly directed to the floor. "Everyone can stop making such a fuss about it. I'm not the first girl with a little heartache and I won't be the last. I'm not going to jump or anything."

"Of course you won't," Megumi said smiling. "So, do you want to stay overnight? It seems there is a free spot in my bed and a complete Sunday with absolutely nothing to do at all." She couldn't help but let out a little sigh.

"I was hoping I could! I hope everyone returns back to normal until tomorrow. Ah, Megumi! Could you teach me how to make Ohagi?"

"Ohagi? Of course..." Megumi said, a little doubtful about her sister's sudden interest in cooking, but relieved that she indeed seemed to do better than everyone was fearing.

* * *

After a Sunday full of girl things and a night full of undisturbed sleep, Kaoru felt wonderful the next day. Megumi had left early for work, and so she could eat breakfast alone, which she really enjoyed from time to time. She carefully wrapped the Ohagi she had made yesterday up and left her sister's apartment. Good thing she always left a spare set of clothes at the dojo.

Kaoru was looking forward to the day. She would teach beginner classes in the morning again and attend her own classes in the afternoon, which meant no annoying family members for a whole day. Well, except a little Yahiko, but at the dojo she could always beat him up without remorse. And the absolutely best thing was: Kenshin and Tomoe were in their honeymoon right now. She actually didn't want to think about that, but not thinking about someone who wasn't there was definitely so much easier than not thinking about someone who you had to see all day.

After teaching her second class, she stepped out into the yard and stretched her tired arms. It was a bright sunny day and Kaoru couldn't help but whistle a song while sitting down to take a little rest. She had just started to unwrap the first Ohagi, when she suddenly felt someone sitting down next to her.

"You seem to be in an awfully good mood today, Kaoru-san!" Kenshin said with an innocent smile on his lips.

"K-k-k-k-Kenshin! What- Why- How- Shouldn't you be on your honeymoon?" Kaoru asked back, obviously shocked by his presence.

"Ah, that got canceled. Tomoe suddenly had an emergency at work," he replied, still smiling.

"An emergency? Isn't she working at the Japanese literature department? What can be so important that you have to cancel your honeymoon about _literature_...?"

"Ahaha, I have no idea! Tomoe gave up trying to explain to me what she did quite a while ago, I'm afraid. Oh, Ohagi! Can I have one?" Without waiting for an answer, Kenshin already grabbed one and started to eat.

"Er, sure, but... I'm sorry, I made them," Kaoru tried to warn him slightly embarrassed.

"Really? I would have never guessed, they are good!" he answered genuinely surprised.

Kaoru slapped him on the shoulder for that comment. "You don't seem to be too disappointed about the whole thing, Kenshin."

"I don't?" Kenshin said thoughtfully, staring at the sky. "Hmm, I guess. But you can't change it now anyway, right? Work comes first after all... Aren't you almost done with school as well, Kaoru-san? Do you know what you want to do after that?" he suddenly changed the topic.

"Almost... Not really. I'm only in my second year of High School. And, well, I actually know what I would like to do," Kaoru answered blushing a bit, "but I'm afraid that's not possible. I guess in the end I'll just end up at the police, like everyone in my family."

"Everyone in your family? Are there more than your parents?"

"Yes, my father's sister and her husband are working for the police as well. They live in Kyoto though, so you probably never met them. And they have another family name as well, of course. Besides that... Believe me, we have a tradition of police work in our family."

"Ah... You're probably referring to your father's claim that he is a descendant of the famous Saito Hajime? He seems to be quite proud of that."

Kaoru laughed. "Can you blame him? Recently I'm actually not so reluctant to believe it anymore."

"Oh? How that?" Kenshin inquired curious.

"Er, just a feeling, I guess. So, um, Megumi's the first one who studied medicine in our family and I think that Mom is more than happy about it. She has no problems being a police officer herself, but of course it's waaay too dangerous for her children!" Kaoru pouted.

"I understand her feelings very well, Kaoru-san," Kenshin stated softly. He took Kaoru's hand gently in his own and looked into her eyes. "I wouldn't have a quiet minute imagining all the things that could happen to you if you were patrolling out there."

Kaoru didn't know what to say. She couldn't tear her eyes away from Kenshin's intensive gaze. The outside world seemed to vanish as everything she could hear was her heart beating in her chest so fast and loud she was sure everyone in Tokyo was able to hear it; everything she could feel was the heat creeping up her face and the most gentle touch on her fingers; everything she could see were the eyes right in front of her. Those eyes, blue as hers, but yet of an entirely different color, with almost a touch of purple thrown into the mix. Those eyes, that always looked so kind and considerate and carefree that no one seemed to notice the pain hidden deep within them. Only she seemed to-

"Yo, ugly! Mom asked me to give you this bento," Yahiko's voice suddenly barged in her daydreams.

Kaoru hastily pulled her hand away from Kenshin's and stood up, her face even redder than only a second before. She murmured a quick "Thanks", snatched the bento box out of her little brother's hands and stormed away, not looking back.

If she had looked back, she would have seen not only a profoundly confused Yahiko, but also Kenshin, his face color matching hers, desperately trying to calm his breath and murmuring "What on earth was that, you idiot...?"

* * *

On her way home that evening, Kaoru tried to sort her thoughts. That little... incident at noon certainly hadn't done any good toward her resolve of "Forget about _him_ and find someone else who isn't out of my reach as soon as possible". Why, oh why wasn't he on his honeymoon? And he didn't even seem to care! And that way he had looked at her... No, no, no, she was imagining things. She really should stop dreaming about a married man, for heaven's sake!

She was so engulfed in her thoughts, that Kaoru didn't notice the woman standing in the middle of the sidewalk until it was too late and she bumped into her. Apologizing, she took a step back and a good look at the woman and her strange attire. And strange was her attire indeed. She wore a kimono, but in a quite indecent way, in Kaoru's opinion. Not only was the ribbon of the obi on her front side, but her collar was so far down, Kaoru wondered whether the woman had used some sort of adhesive tape to make it stay that way. And yet, there was an air of elegance and femininity surrounding her whole appearance, Kaoru couldn't help but feel slightly jealous.

"Excuse me, Miss, I'm looking for the Kamiya dojo. Could you give me the right direction?" asked the mysterious woman with a silky voice.

"Kamiya dojo? Actually, while they still teach Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, it's now mostly called the Himura dojo. After the owners, you know? But sure, I'll show you. I, er, was just on my way there anyway."

The woman chuckled. "Himura dojo? I see, I see... How very interesting. You wouldn't happen to know one Himura Kenshin, would you?"

"Yes, I would..." Kaoru answered, her brow furrowed in question. "Are you a friend of Kenshin? I didn't see you at the wedding. And I don't think I ever heard him talk of you. I'm sure I would have remember him mentioning someone like, erm, you." She had decided, since subtlety really wasn't one of her strengths, bold attack was the best strategy here. She really wanted to know what in the world a woman like that could want from Kenshin. She looked like she worked at... And Kenshin surely had never been... Right?

Kaoru's only answer was another chuckle.

When they arrived at the dojo and entered through the gate, the stranger took a good look at the surroundings.

"Ah... Just as I had imagined. They didn't change too much around here, did they?"

"No, not too much. So, um, who can I announce?" Kaoru tried once again to at least get to know a name. Of course not to ask Misao to do some background research with said name later, absolutely not.

"Forgive me for not introducing myself yet. My name is Komagata Yumi. I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance." She bowed and Kaoru answered the gesture, mumbling her own name, and for some reason feeling slightly mocked.

As she looked back up, she saw Yumi's eyes brighten. "So you are the famous Kaoru-chan... I should have guessed," Yumi mumbled barely audible. She then added in a louder voice: "To answer your earlier question: I only met Himura-san once and while it was very memorable for me, I highly doubt he will remember me. It was quite a time ago. But I'd still like to talk to him now, if it was possible."

Kaoru shook herself. "Of course, I'm sorry. I'll get him right now!" she called while turning around and making her way to the training hall.

She didn't have to search for a long time, since Kenshin was just leaving the dojo. From the look of him it seemed he had just finished a training session. Before Kaoru could say anything, she was noticed by the redhead.

"Kaoru-san! Did you forget something?" he asked.

"No. I ran into some woman on my way home who wanted to see Kenshin and I offered to show her the way. Komagata Yumi is the name." Kaoru very carefully studied Kenshin's face, but he didn't show any sign of recognition upon hearing the name. But of course he was a master of not showing his true feelings, as Kaoru knew only too well.

She led him back to the waiting Yumi and a quick glance back revealed still no other emotions than mild curiosity, which placated Kaoru.

The three of them exchanged introductions and finally Kenshin asked what Kaoru wanted to know from the very beginning. "Well, Komagata-san, I heard you wanted to speak to me. What can I help you with?"

"Oh, it's really quite simple. I only recently arrived in Tokyo and I would like my son to take up Kendo. Your dojo was heavily recommended to me, but you see, I wanted to confirm with my own eyes. I just want to make sure that he learns from the best and strongest." At those words, Kaoru noticed a faint sparkle in Yumi's eyes, but she wasn't sure what to make of it.

Kenshin on the other side got visibly embarrassed. "I'm afraid, there is some kind of misunderstanding. First of all, it isn't my dojo, but belongs to my father. Second, I actually don't teach. And third, the reason for that would be that I'm not nearly the best or strongest, as you put it. Kaoru-san here for example would probably beat me in a second. And that's exactly the reason why she is teaching the beginners for now. Your son would be in the very best hands you could hope for," he ended with a warm smile.

"Is that so? I don't know, how could a little girl like that beat the heir of a famous dojo? You're just being humble, aren't you? Himura-san?" Yumi added in a voice Kaoru could only describe as seductive.

She was furious. How dared that, that... woman! How dared she to call her 'little girl'! And simply dismiss her as if she was not noteworthy at all, only because she was female! This was the 21st century, dammit!

To only add to the insult, Yumi had suddenly closed the gap between herself and Kenshin and started to slide her fingers through his hair. "I'm sure you're really a great fighter, aren't you? You wouldn't lose to a little girl, would you?"

Kenshin was dumbfounded, his face matching his hair and only letting out an occasional "Oro!" but otherwise doing nothing to fend off the woman's advances.

That was it. Kaoru grabbed Kenshin by the back of his collar and started to drag him towards the dojo. "I'll just show you!"

Inside the dojo, they found not only Kenshin's father, but also some students of the advanced class left. 'Well, the more people watch, the better,' Kaoru thought. 'Or the more embarrassing, should I lose. Ha, but I won't lose, it's really that simple!'

She briefly explained to a surprised Himura-sensei why she absolutely had to fight a match against Kenshin _right now_, and then dragged him further to the locker rooms to put on their armor.

Her opponent looked at her, slightly confused and uncertain. "Are you sure you want to do this, Kaoru-san? Only because of what that woman said..."

"Yes, I definitely want to do this. I actually wanted to do this for ages. We never _ever_ had a match before and it irritates me to no end. And don't you dare to go easy on me!" she growled with a fierce look.

"I would never," Kenshin smiled back.

Ten minutes later they stood in the middle of the floor, both wearing their full bogu. Kenshin's father and two of the other students were acting as referees. Himura-sensei alone probably would have done as well, but Kaoru wanted there to be absolutely no doubt about who had won. It had started only to show that impertinent woman that she absolutely could win against Kenshin, but now it was something more.

When she was honest, Kaoru actually had never thought about beating Kenshin before. Back then, he had rarely sparred with her, and when he did, it was to help her improve herself, so of course he had toned down to reach her level. They had never seriously competed against each other and Kaoru never had had the wish to do so, since it was clear who would have won from the beginning.

Nowadays, in some way she had been idolizing Kenshin way too much to ever think of asking him for a match and they usually didn't take part in the same class, so they didn't encounter each other in a training match there. Now that she was seriously thinking about her chances of beating Kenshin for the first time though, she suddenly realized that she really had a chance to do so. She did train Kendo far longer than he did, and while he was still a natural talent and incredibly fast, he wasn't nearly as fast as even during his worst Rurouni days.

Yes, she could beat him. And she needed it. Badly. She wanted to prove to him that she could take care of herself, which was of course silly, because his current self had probably never doubted that. And she also wanted to give him a good beating, because... Because. Because he wasn't on his honeymoon, and she still had to think of him, and he looked at her with that strange eyes.

All those thoughts spun through Kaoru's head during the seconds before the match. Once they bowed to each other, her head began to clear though. When they made the few steps towards each other and squatted down, she was entirely focused on the upcoming match. For a moment she looked Kenshin in the eyes and had to smile when she recognized that look she had seen so often on him, but never directed at her yet. He wouldn't go easy on her.

No one wanted to start with the first attack and so they began to circle each other, never taking the eyes of the other one. After a few seconds Kaoru had enough of it, and concluding it was safe to attack against non-godlike speed, she launched her first attack to test the waters. As she had expected, Kenshin blocked her strike to his head, but she thought to get a good estimate of his speed out of this. She took a step back, only to directly jump forward again and knock his shinai out of the way. She let out a loud kiai and already saw herself scoring the point, but in the very last moment, Kenshin dodged the strike and she stumbled a few steps beyond him. Turning, she could only raise her shinai to prevent him from scoring in return. They exchanged a few more strikes, each barely blocked or dodged, and after a minute, they both withdraw for a moment, panting heavily.

Kaoru smiled. She hadn't been feeling this happy and alive in weeks, maybe even months. Before she could ponder any more however, Kenshin let out a bloodcurdling cry and advanced towards her, suddenly way faster than he had been before. Kaoru tried to block his blow once again, but she couldn't bring her arms to move quick enough. She actually was shaking a bit. She knew it was silly and impossible, but for a very short moment, she thought she now knew how people must have felt when Battousai was charging at them.

The inevitable blow on her head and Himura-sensei shouting "Ippon!" was enough to shake her out of her thoughts though. She wouldn't give him any other point.

When the fight started again, she made sure not to open her defense again. Once again, they were dancing around each other carefully. This time, it was Kenshin who made the first move and attempted to hit Kaoru's do. She was expecting that much however and dodged the blow easily with a swift little turn. She then made a quick step forward, cried out loud and hit Kenshin's kote with a precise strike. This time, the point was hers.

Kaoru felt a tingling sensation all over her body. This was better than she had ever imagined it. She was fighting with Kenshin, as a true equal. And if she just concentrated enough for a little more, she could even beat him.

There was no carefully circling each other after this. Both of them wanted to win this fight, and both of them wanted to get that last point needed, no matter what. They attacked each other mercilessly, taking advantage of every little breach in defense the other might let slip, but no one could score another point.

Kaoru was briefly wondering how much time there was left, when Kenshin swung down his shinai to her head, and suddenly her instincts kicked in. Before she knew what she was doing, her arms crossed above her head and she blocked the blade. Only a second later, Kenshin had lost his sword and was flung across the floor.

The room was absolutely quiet, except for Kaoru's and Kenshin's heavy panting. When Kaoru looked up, she noticed everyone staring at her in shock. A crooked smile appeared on her lips. "Ippon?"

Himura-sensei came to her and patted her back. "Well, you certainly won this match, I'd say. Now you only have to tell me how you know the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu ougi, when I'm pretty sure I never taught you," he inquired with a curious look on his face.

"Oh! Erm... Learning by watching?" Kaoru felt her face blush and quickly strode towards Kenshin who was still lying on the floor. She held out a hand to help him up and he thankfully took it.

"Congratulations, Kaoru-san," Kenshin said while taking off his men. "That was truly amazing. Is it true what my father said? That it is the ougi?"

"You don't know?" Kaoru asked surprised, taking off her own men.

"No. Father never showed me so far. He said I wouldn't be able to learn or even use it in my current state, and I guess he was right. But then he's almost always right in the end," he laughed. "I would be honored if we could have a rematch some time, Kaoru-san."

"With pleasure!" she smiled and meant it.

* * *

Opening the house door, Kaoru beamed. It had been a very strange day. But whatever had happened earlier, right now she was simply happy. Absolutely exhausted, yes, but happy.

It was already late, so she didn't expect anyone to still be up, and therefore she was more than surprised when she entered the living room and found her whole family sitting around with serious faces. She was confused for a moment, but then realization hit her.

"Oh God! You found Kamatari, didn't you? Is he- Is he dead...?" She slumped down right where she stood.

Her mother turned around and that was the first time she noticed the young boy she held in her arms. He was probably as old as Yahiko, had short brown hair and a dull look in his eyes.

"No, we didn't hear anything from him yet. Kaoru, this is Hiraoka Eiji. His family – parents and his older brother – have vanished. We don't know what happened yet, but we think that Eiji might be in need of protection and that's why he will live with us, until... we find his family," her mother explained. "Please take care of him as well, will you?"

"Of course!" She smiled at the boy. It was strange – this was the second time today that she heard a name that somehow rang a distant bell in her mind, the first one being that Yumi person. She simply couldn't place them. She quickly dismissed it as unimportant though. They were probably just the names of her Meiji era hairdresser and greengrocer or something like that.

Eiji didn't smile back, but latched onto Tokio's sleeve and buried his face there. Kaoru couldn't blame him. Once again she felt horrible for almost forgetting about Kamatari all day... How she wished he would simply show up again with his usual grin on the face and asking everyone what they made such a big fuss about.

She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "I'm tired everyone, I'll go to bed. Good night!"

* * *

The next week passed quickly and without any significant changes. Kaoru spent most of her day at the dojo, trying to avoid Kenshin. It seemed that he didn't want to be avoided though, and in the end they spent at least every lunch together. They had enjoyable conversations, and during that time, Kaoru almost forgot why she wanted to avoid him in the first place. Kenshin didn't do any more looking at her strangely or holding her hand just a little too long, but that might have been due to the fact that she brought Eiji with her.

Her parents and Megumi were busy by day, and they couldn't leave him alone with just Yahiko or the whole point of protecting him would have been moot, and so they had agreed that it would be the best to bring him to the dojo. No one would dare to attack him there. And if someone was dumb enough to try it, there were enough people ready to defend him.

The boy seemed to like the dojo and gradually lightened up a bit, but unfortunately there were no news about his parents or brother. No news about Kamatari either.

* * *

Finally it was Sunday again. Kaoru was happy to meet Misao who she hadn't been able to meet the whole week, due to the little ninja being busy with some "important Aoshi business". When Kaoru was honest, she didn't even want to know.

The doorbell rang, and she could see Eiji getting up to answer the door. She quickly got up herself and reached the door just in time and positioned herself in front of him before opening. "Better not open alone, okay?" she reminded him with a smile. Eiji looked back at her with his huge eyes and nodded silently.

Kaoru only needed to open the door a little bit to know that it was indeed Misao. The girl already started chattering before they could even see each other. Once the door was fully open however, she abruptly went quiet.

"Eiji?" she asked incredulous.

"Eh? You know him?" Kaoru asked, quickly closing the door. The boy seemed to be as confused as she was.

"Yes. No. I mean... From, you know. Earlier," Misao answered with a meaningful look.

"What?" Well, that would explain why the name sounded familiar to Kaoru earlier. Unfortunately a look at Misao's concerned face didn't let her believe that he had been her greengrocer anymore.

"Eiji, would you wait in the living room? I need to talk to Misao for a second. We'll be right back!"

She shoved Eiji into the living room and hauled Misao into the empty kitchen.

After closing the door, she whispered: "Okay, what's going on here? How do you know him? And why do you look like that?"

"Do you really not remember? When I first met Himura, and we stumbled upon that abandoned village that Shishio had took control of – Eiji was the boy we found there! Whose parents and brother had been killed! He's even in the same age. And that wolf, er, I mean Saito took care of him, or better, his wife did. So what in the world is he doing here now?"

"Oh God..." Kaoru had to sit down. "His parents and older brother are missing... My mother is working on his case and she's afraid that whoever took them might want to get him, too, and that's why we're watching him now. That sounds eerily familiar, doesn't it?"

"Ah, now now! You said his family is missing right? So they might be still alive! Only because of what happened last time, it doesn't have to happen exactly like that again this time," Misao tried to cheer them up, not really looking too convinced herself. "I mean, so much else happened totally different this life!"

"I guess you're right." Kaoru stood again and slapped her cheeks. "I really have to stop being so gloomy!"

"Yeah, that's the spirit!" Misao cried, pumping her fist in the air and jumping up and down. Both of them didn't notice someone entering the house until Kaoru's father put his head through the kitchen door.

"We need to talk."

* * *

Misao had stayed overnight. Kaoru was happy because she really didn't want to be alone tonight. Not that she was afraid, she just needed someone to hold onto.

When her father had led them to the living room earlier today, she had already feared for the worst. Her mother had been sitting on the couch, her arms around Eiji's shoulders. When she had told him that they had found his family dead, he didn't say a single word, didn't cry, didn't do anything. He just looked down. After a few minutes, he had looked up and announced that he'd go to bed. Tokio followed him, looking worried.

When they were gone, Saito lightened a cigarette. Kaoru knew that it had to be really bad when he ignored his wife's rule like this. After he had silently smoked the first cigarette, he lightened a second one and looked at his daughter and her friend.

"We still don't know whether someone might be after him and that's why I'll tell you what we're up against. Of course you won't tell anybody else."

They only nodded silently and sat down.

"We found the bodies in a little alley this morning. We could only identify them this fast because the body of the father was still recognizable. He only had his throat slit. But the other two..." He took a drag from his cigarette.

"Eiji's mother was killed from a sword thrust through her heart. His brother also had a lot of sword wounds, which alone should have killed him, but the coroner said he was still alive. Until they burned the both of them."

Kaoru and Misao looked at him, eyes huge from shock.

"And then those bastards wrote a message on the wall above the bodies, with the blood of the father."

"Jigokuchuu"

* * *

**Glossary:**

Bogu: Kendo armor

Men: Kendo mask; hit to the head

Kote: Kendo gloves; hit to the arms

Do: Kendo body armor

Ippon: One Point

Jigokuchuu: A word made up by me - Jigoku means hell, and the chuu would of course be the same as in Tenchuu and Jinchuu


End file.
